The now demolished Lockyer Tavern’s ‘back bar’ on Lockyer Street in Plymouth offered Queer men a place to socialise from the 1950s until the 1970s. Landlords sometimes allowed separate rooms, or ‘back bars’, to be used by LGBTQ clientele on some nights. By the late 1960s and 1970s, as politics and fashions changed, these more exclusive venues were derided by liberationists as ‘piss-elegant’ for their pretentions. Clubs in London included the Arts and Battledress Club in Orange Street (later renamed the A&B Club in Rupert Street), the Rockingham in Archer Street, the Spartan in Tachbrook Street and the Festival in Brydges Place. These clubs allowed middle-class men the security of meeting others in a relatively safe environment. Private members clubsįrom the 1930s a number of Queer-run private members clubs appeared, especially in London. These include the Dover Castle in Leicester and, in London, the Queen’s Head in Chelsea, the City of Quebec in Marylebone and The Royal Vauxhall Tavern. Other pubs stake claim to be amongst the oldest Queer venues in England.